


Imprisoned

by ChokolatteJedi



Series: Mutant!Neal [1]
Category: White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mutants, Bingo, Community: hc_bingo, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Imprisonment, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Prison, Snippets, Telepathy, Time Skips, X-Men Cameos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 13:23:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4878508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neal has to deal with being imprisoned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Imprisoned

**Author's Note:**

> For my H/C Bingo Wildcard square: Imprisonment. Featuring Mutant!Neal and Mozzie.

Neal had barely closed his eyes after laying down on his prison bunk before his mind was invaded. _Hello, Neal._

 _Hello Professor,_ Neal replied. _What brings you to this neck of the mental woods?_

_Word of your arrest reached the institute._

Neal bit his tongue in an effort not to release a snarky retort, but that action was useless against a mind reader. _Don't worry. No one knows what I am_

Professor X sighed deeply. _That was not my primary concern, Neal, and you know it._

Yes, he did. As much as Neal wanted to be bitter about his circumstances, he couldn't blame the Professor. Nearly everyone else in his life, but not the Professor. The Professor was the one who had found him, detoxed him from the mutation-dampening drug that the US Marshals had been secretly dosing him with for fifteen years, and taught him how to use his natural powers. The Professor was the only one who had ever told Neal the truth.

 _Not the only one, Neal._ The Professor reminded him.

 _Ellen never told me I was a mutant!_ Neal shot back, not for the first time.

And patiently as ever, the Professor continued the circle they had traveled in so often. _She didn't know. She might have sensed it, if they hadn't had her on such high doses of the Dampener as well, but she didn't know. She told you the truth as she knew it; she set you free._

Neal sighed. He knew this. He knew he should forgive Ellen for not warning him that running away from home would have been such a terrifying endeavor, but it was just a little hard to forget the fear of watching his body disappear for the first time.

After a moment, the Professor interrupted his spiraling thoughts. _That is not why I contacted you tonight, Neal,_ he reminded his student.

 _Oh yes, you had a reason for calling?_ Neal couldn't keep the snark out of his mental tone.

_You told me once that you never wanted to take a dampener again_

_Never_ Neal spat back.

_Then you can't use your powers in prison._

_Duh._

_Let me clarify. You can't use your powers to escape prison._

_But-_

_Neal, I'm sure you've already found a dozen holes in the system where a little invisibility and agility could allow you to waltz right out of there..._

_Seventeen_ he replied absently. 

_But think of the repercussions._

_I'd be free._

_And they would wonder how._

Neal scoffed. _The same way that everyone else breaks out of prison._

_Everyone else leaves a trail of some kind. There are already speculations about some of your more unbelievable exploits in Europe. Some are already asking how you could possibly have escaped from the Danish Palace. The Burmese government has your face on a list of potential Mutants. Many eyes are on you right now. Do you really want to give them proof by using your powers to slip out of here?_

_You don't-_

_This isn't about me Neal._ The professor reminded him gently. _This is about you. If you are revealed as a Mutant I shall deal with it the same way I deal with every other questioning from the press. However, I am more concerned about the repercussions for_ you. 

And Neal knew what those repercussions were. If he was confirmed as a Mutant, his picture would be emblazoned across the internet, all around the world. He would never be able to show his face without suspicion and hatred. Cons would be impossible. He would become the default suspect in any crime. He would be put back on the drugs.

_I won't use my powers in prison_ Neal promised. 

There was no reply, but that was alright. Neal hadn't been making that promise to the Professor; he'd been making it to himself. 

oOo

And for four years, Neal kept his promise. He didn't pull any tricks with his powers. When a group of suspected Mutants found him at lunch and offered him a place in their gang, he played innocent and confused. When he was working in the yard, he kept his routine to something a regular human in his weight class could easily accomplish. When he was attacked in the metal shop, he didn't disappear, but took the hits until the guards arrived.

For four years, no one had any reason to suspect that Neal was anything but human.

As the years passed, even Neal began to believe. Memories of scaling walls of Russian palaces and slipping invisibly into Parisian vaults became figments of his imagination, while the little boy who hand't know anything was different about his life for eighteen years became more and more prominent.

Even when he plotted his escape, he kept the plan to something a human could reasonably pull off: no powers needed.

When Neal first heard Burke's footsteps, there was a moment to chose. He could vanish. Take that second to become invisible and walk out right past the agent. Burke would think he was too late, and the search would continue. But after four years of pretending not to have powers, after eighteen years of not even knowing he had them, it didn't even occur to Neal to use them until Burke had spoken.

And just like that, just like any human, Neal was thrown back into a box.

oOo

Neal shouldn't have been surprised to see Mozzie at June's his second night out. The eidetic mutant seemed to have ways of knowing everything, even beyond what his mental powers were capable of.

"So..." he showed Mozzie the anklet. As prisons went it was better than the cell, but he still wanted out of it.

"Unbreakable," Mozzie declared. Neal gave him the look. The look that said, 'sure, for humans.'

Mozzie relented. "I may know a guy."

"A guy?" Neal repeated.

"Okay, a girl, who can get you in and out of that."

"What'll that cost me?"

"She's not really the money type."

"I didn't say money; I said cost" Neal replied, annoyed that his friend was trying to quibble.

 _Let's say it's a favor from an old friend_ A familiar voice commented in Neal's mind. From the smirk on Mozzie's face, it had been a group broadcast.

_Thanks,Professor._

_Be careful, Neal._

oOo

The next night when Neal got home, he found a half empty bottle of wine and an empty glass on his table; sure signs of Mozzie's presence. Beside the glass was a small box made of no metal Neal had ever seen (or allegedly smelted). Inside was a small, blood-red crystal. Neal touched it, and felt a strange tingle course through his body. A second later there was a thump and Neal looked down at the tracker, blinking the usual green, lying beside his insubstantial leg.

Neal grinned. He would never be locked up again.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: The "crystal" is infused with Kitty's blood. It is always phased out, thus allowing Neal to phase when touching it. The box is made of Breakworld material, thus containing it.


End file.
